Fliskmillan,
or more correctly " Fliskmullan, " never had a mill; but the
name does describe accurately the round, bald ridge, now covered,
which forms a buttress to the cairn-topped peak of Norman's
Law to its rear. There are so many wonderful names and intriguing
in this area. Lyndemus, Pittachop, Whirly Kip, Craigsimmie,
Craiglug and Drumnod to name but a few. The old Balmerino scribes
who wandered through this area must have had great difficulty
in interpreting the ancient names like, Craigengrugiefauld and
Cleikamscleuch; or at least as with that of Balmerino Abbey
itself, they spelt them in many different ways. Even the sandbanks
and shore rocks on the nearby River Tay have unusual and interesting
names; Sure-as-Death, Eppies-Taes, Durward's Scalp, and farther
east, Pluck-the-Craw.

Every name in and behind these hills has its own tale, and
many noble, and not so noble things, have been plotted below,
or in sight of, Norman's Law. The Mount of Sir David Lyndesay,
the first of ten Lord Lyons that sprang from this side of
Fife, is not far away on the slope of Lindiferronhill, easily
seen by the Hopetoun Monument on its crest. Myrecairnie and
Murdochcairnie are names that suggest tragedy -

There
was also young Ayton of Inchdairnie, on the way to visit his
kin at Murdochcairnie, shot by Royalist Dragoons. It was not
far from here that Crichton of Bottomcraig, in 1619, encountered
his enemy. Fyfe of Crichton, who ran him through the body and
was never seen again. Murdoch, Duke of Albany, was the owner
of much of this land, the inheritance of the old Thanes of Fife,
until his forfeiture and execution in the days of James I of
Scotland.

Here are some Flisk Parish notes from A historic gazeteer
of the counties of Fife, Kinross & Clackmannan, M Barbieri,
published in 1857.
" Flisk parish is bounded on the north by the Tay, on the
south by Creich and Abdie, on the east by Balmerino and on the
west by Dunbog. It is 4 miles in length from east to west and
1 mile in breadth. Area 3.5 square miles; under cultivation
2210 acres; under pasture 140 acres; under wood 266 acres. Occupying
the northern slope of the Ochils, a considerable portion of
its surface is hilly and irregular, except about mile from the
river, where it is level ground along the whole extent of the
parish: the hills are Lyndemus, nearly 750 feet above sea level,
Logie Law and Glenduckie Hill. With the exception of the Tay,
the parish is watered by small burns and supplied by innumerable
springs of the finest water.

The soil for the most part is a clayey loam, varying from 1
to 3 feet in depth, lying on rock, clay and till; the whole
is nevertheless fertile, and the land is found cultivated from
the shore of the Tay to the summit of the hills. Much has been
done by draining land naturally wet; till lately stone draining
was chiefly used, but now tile-draining is introduced. A mixture
of 1 part of bone-dust to 2 parts of coal ashes is much used
for turnips on the hill lands; wheat, barley, and oats, with
potatoes, turnips, peas and beans are grown in the proportion
of the order given here; the Fifeshire breed of cattle crossed
with the Forfarshire is the kind kept; there are few sheep kept,
owing to the hardness of the soil not being favourable to grass;
there are eight thrashing mills; there is a great deficiency
of cottages in this parish, which is the cause of the continued
decrease of population. There are 3 heritors. Coals have to
be brought from Newburgh or Balmerino or the Balbirnie pit.
There are 3 quarries of sandstone and clinkstone; none of them
of importance, and only used for local purposes. The parish
being entirely a rural one, there are no manufactures carried
on within it. The patron is the Earl of Zetland. There is no
Dissenting place of worship. Parish school only. There are no
fairs nor public houses in the parish. The nearest towns are
Newburgh 6 miles, Cupar 8 miles and Dundee 10 miles. There is
a post office at Newburgh, but the post town is Cupar. There
is no village but the farm of Glenduckie, consists of a dozen
cottages."

If you would like to visit this area as part of a highly personalized
small group tour of my native Scotland please e-mail me: